Time and Energy

Obviously, there are an infinite number of possible workouts out there.  What we choose to do on any given day depends on a lot of different factors, but let me suggest that there are two that we particularly need to pay attention to:  time and energy.

When we have plenty of both time and energy, we can do whatever the heck we want.  Those days we can go on that long run or that endurance bike ride or take forever working up to our one rep max lift on a number of exercises.  That one’s easy to figure out.

 

When we have not much of either, it’s also pretty easy to figure out.  That’s a great time to do half an hour of yoga or cardio (and, hey, that cardio might just give you a little more energy!).  We stretch a bit, move a bit, and get on with our days.

 

When we have a fair amount of time but not a ton of energy, we can try a class to reduce the mental load.  We can lean into our flexibility work, yoga, or Pilates.  We can go for a walk or choose some less-vigorous version of our cardio.  This is also a good time for social workouts, like finding a friend to play pickleball or bike to the farmer’s market.

 

If the energy is high and the time is low, we can go with interval training or Tabata-style weight workouts.

 

One note:  there are certainly days when the energy level is so low that the right answer is to work out by rolling over in bed.  Rest is as important to our fitness and our health as working out.

Monday Workout: Switch!

Month end means a little tweak to the workout!  Four rounds.

 

1 min cardio
plank jacks	30
pushups	10
gorilla row	20
overhead curtsy	30
curls	20
brains	10

 

The Amazing Stickie and Lateral Plank Walk

The Amazing Stickie, as we know, loves her planks.  Today, she is taking her plank for a little lateral walk.  We are looking down at her from above in the drawing.

She begins in plank position.  Then she takes one arm out to the side.  The leg on the same side moves out next.  Then she shifts her weight to that arm and leg, bringing the former still arm and leg in to return to regular plank position, one body width to the side.

 

Stickie does about 5 shifts to one side and then works back the other way for 5.

Dress for Success

I’m going to go a little off-topic today for a moment, but I promise to come back before I’m done.  Girls, on the whole, are less likely than boys to meet the recommended daily targets for exercise.  Add in school uniforms and, according to a study from University of Cambridge, that gap tends to get bigger.  The study is not definitive enough to imply causation, but there is a correlation.

On some level, this seems like a bulletin from Captain Obvious.  Of course girls are less likely to run around doing all the things when they’re in dresses or skirts.  That kind of clothing just increases the societal pressure to be “ladylike” instead of active.  However, documenting the potential effects of what girls wear is a good first step in changing things up so that we raise our girls to be at least as healthy and active as our boys.  (Note:  not all boys are hitting the activity targets, either.  We have work to do to build healthy bodies for all our children.)

 

I am, by virtue of my occupation, allowed to wear play clothes most of the time.  I don’t think twice about lugging stuff around or needing to walk a fair amount or getting down on the floor.  On the rare occasions when I get dressed up, I notice how much harder it is to do the activities of daily life.  What if we were all free to move on a regular basis?  How would life transform?

 

Let’s advocate for comfy clothes for everyone.

POWER!

So I try to keep my posts the right amount of technical because really, nobody wants to wade through a bunch of jargon.  Today I’m going to talk about power, though, so I need to clarify the difference between power and strength.  Strength is how much we can lift.  Power is how much we can lift fast.

Because of the speed component, we don’t really try to do much with power when we first start working out.  We want to be sure that our form is ready to deal with speed.  However, power is pretty fun as an element in our workouts.  Here are a few ways to incorporate power into what we’re already doing.

 

1.     Plyometrics.  Plyo- is a fancy way to say “with jumping.”  When we trade our step ups for box jumps, we’re going plyo.  Side lunges become side hops.  We get a boost to our cardio and we learn to deal with some impact when we do plyometrics.

2.     Ballistic Exercise.  The goal with ballistic exercises is to move or launch the weight as fast as possible.  When we do medicine ball slams, we’re working ballistically because we have to move that ball fast and hard enough to bounce back to us!  Kettlebell swings also have some ballistic qualities.

3.     Dynamic Exercise.   When we do dynamic exercises, we do a slow prep and then an explosive movement.  For example, we lower slowly into a squat and then explode up.  Things like golf swings are another example of this kind of work—the slow backswing and then the powerful stroke.

 

A few notes:  Form is super important.  We have to know that we are using proper alignment because otherwise we’re basically saying: I feel like getting hurt today.  Also, when we work on power, we don’t want to use the very heaviest weights.  Going with about 60% of the heaviest we can do is the best option.

 

Try it!

Monday Workout: Plenty

We’ve got plenty of compound exercises going today!  Three rounds.

 

suitcase swings	30
underhand row	20
Arnold press	10
squat to leg lift	30
bench press	20
reverse fly	10
overhead high knees	30
flies	20
pretty princesses	10

 

The Amazing Stickie and Plank with Foot Touch

The Amazing Stickie loves exercises that do a lot at once.  So today she is demonstrating the plank with foot touch.

She begins in plank position, a nice straight line from her head to her heels.  From there, she lifts her hips toward the ceiling, making herself into an inverted V as if she were doing downward dog in yoga.  She reaches one hand back and touches her foot with it before putting it back on the floor and coming back down into plank position.  She repeats the whole thing, using her other hand to touch her foot.  That’s one rep.  Five reps should do it.